Troubleshoot

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

Claire Bear

"Hey, Jacob!" Bella felt the familiar surge of enthusiasm when he greeted her with his usual bright smile. She realized in that moment just how much she missed being around him. The knowledge surprised her. She had always thought it was Edward who was enough for her to be able to function, but it seemed that Jacob was just as vital to her survival.

Jacob stopped a few feet away, and Bella stared up at him in surprise, leaning her head all the way back. "You've grown again!"

Jacob laughed, his smile widening impossibly. "No, I think its just your imagination. Either that or you're shrinking." He reached out with one long arm and patted her on the head as if she was a child.

Bella grimaced, swatting his hand away. "Very funny."

Jacob laughed again, amused by her irritation. He turned, leading the way back toward the house. He pulled a rubber band from the back pocket of his shorts, twisting his hair in his big hands and winding it around the bundle. He had been growing his hair out for months for Bella's benefit, knowing that she liked it when it was long. It made his fur long and shaggy when he was phased, but he thought the slight discomfort was worth it.

"Hey, Dad." Jacob called out as he ducked his head to get through the front door. "Look who stopped by."

Billy was in the tiny living room, a book in his hands. He set the book in his lap and looked warily up at Bella. "Hello, Bella." He said carefully, his eyes flicking to Jacob briefly as he did so.

Bella gazed back at him curiously, pondering why he was being so cautious around her. Maybe he was concerned that her turning up again out of the blue like this meant that she was going to hurt his son all over again. She couldn't blame him. The last time they had been in a room together Jacob was trying to recover from his extensive injuries, after being attacked by a stray newborn vampire.

"Its good to see you, Billy."

"Likewise." Billy's eyes again moved in his son's direction.

Jacob showed no emotion, just returned his father's worried gaze steadily. "Where are Rachel and Paul? Don't tell me Lahote has finally peeled his ass off the couch and gone out?"

Billy sighed. "They went out about twenty minutes ago to go to the local store to stock up on some groceries. The cupboards are looking quite bare."

"Wow." Jacob didn't bother to hide his sarcasm. "Who's paying for that I wonder?"

"Jake, please, can we not have this conversation again? And especially when we have visitors in the house."

"Its just Bella." Jacob rolled his eyes. "And don't worry, we're not staying. We're spending the day with Quil and Claire."

"We are?" Bella piped up in surprise.

"Yes, we are." Jacob affirmed with a broad smile. He captured her hand in his, ignoring the anxious light in Billy's eyes as he pulled her out of the house with him.

Bella glanced over her shoulder at Billy. He was sitting rigidly in his chair, the abandoned book resting in his lap, gazing after them in despair.

The beach stretched out alongside the water; the sand was softly golden with just the right amount of comforting warmth to make Bella feel relaxed. She had been a bit apprehensive when Jacob first told her about spending the day with Quil and Claire. She wasn't used to being around children of any age, let alone toddlers. But after thinking things through, she concluded that it couldn't be that difficult. It wasn't like she was going to be alone with Claire. Jacob and Quil were going to be there.

They found Quil just where Jacob had left him, on the south end of the crescent, away from all the tourist crowd. He was kneeling in the wet sand by Claire, helping the noisy little girl to fill a plastic bucket with sand so she could build the world's biggest sandcastle.

Quil looked up as they approached. "Oh, hey Bella." He greeted her casually, like nothing was amiss. "Long time, no see."

"Hi, Quil." Bella gave him a small wave with her free hand, her other was still holding tightly onto Jacob's.

Quil nudged Claire. "Hey, Claire Bear, look who's come to spend the day with us. Its Unca Jay and Bella."

Claire glanced up; her suspicious gaze travelled from Jacob to Bella. "Bwella?"

"Yes, Bella, she's really awesome. You'll like her." Quil enthused. "You can do girlie things together." He encouraged.

Claire pouted, shaking her head from side to side. "Hate girlie things. Hate Bwella's."

"Aww, Claire Bear, give her a chance." Quil wheedled.

"No!" Claire cried, stamping her foot.

Jacob winced, thinking this wasn't the best start to his grand plan. Bella looked terrified. If Claire went into one of her screaming fits, this would put her off completely. He quickly tried to remedy the situation.

"Hey, Claire Bear, want to go paddling with me?" He asked.

Claire turned her attention to him, peering up at him from under her long black fringe. "Okay, Unca Jay."

Jacob breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the situation had been saved before it deteriorated completely. "Why don't you join us, Bella, honey?" He suggested. "You like paddling, right?"

Claire's lower lip poked out. Her dark brown eyes filled with tears. Her cheeks flushed a dull red. Her little fingers twitched at her sides, her chest puffed out, and she let out an enormous bellow. "No Bwella's. I hate Bwella's!"

"Oh, hell." Quil cussed under his breath. "Nice one, Jake." He quickly picked Claire up, swinging her up high onto his shoulders. "There, there, Claire Bear." He said in his most soothing tone. "I promise no Bwella's."

Claire clutched at his hair, making Quil wince with pain. She sucked in a deep breath, her false tears automatically drying up as he continued to appease her with promises of ice cream and other sweet treats.

Bella stared up at the red-faced little girl, thinking that Claire had to be the most spoiled toddler she had ever come across. It was quite obvious why. Instead of disciplining her when she threw one of her tantrums, the supposed grown ups around her immediately caved in, giving into her demands, encouraging her spiteful behavior, making her think it was the only way to act and get what she wanted or deserved. Bella understood that Quil was probably the main culprit, although his imprint with Claire blinded him from realizing the extent to how much he was ruining the little girl by constantly pacifying her with the promise of sweet treats and other rewards.

This revelation chased away Bella's initial fear. She looked up at the little girl sitting on Quil's shoulders and shrugged. "Oh, well, if Claire doesn't want to play with nasty old Bwella's, then nasty old Bwella's doesn't want to play with Claire."

Jacob grabbed her hand, pulling her close, and leaning down so he could whisper in her ear. "Bella, what are you doing?"

Quil looked like he was about to pop a lung. He stared at Bella in disbelief, his whole body going rigid as he waited for the inevitable fall out from Claire. But to everyone's surprise Claire didn't tantrum, instead she did a whole one-eighty.

"I wanna play with Bwella! Why can't I play with Bwella?" She cried.

Jacob's mouth popped open in surprise. "What just happened?" He whispered in an aside to Bella.

"Just an old trick I learned from my nan." Bella whispered back. "A bit of reverse psychology gets them every time, especially spoiled little princesses like Claire. Deny them what they think they didn't want and they suddenly want it. Simple." She shrugged, before smiling disarmingly up at Claire. "Ready to go paddling with nasty old Bwella, Claire Bear?"

Claire nodded enthusiastically, tugging hard on Quil's hair for him to put her down. "Down, Qwill. Down!"

Quil instantly obeyed. He lifted the excitable toddler from his shoulders, setting her gently down on her feet. Claire immediately ran over to Bella, reaching up to grab her outstretched hand.

"We'll see you boys in a minute." Bella declared, trying her best not to look too smug. "Let's skip." She said to Claire. The little girl's face brightened, a happy smile curling her lips upwards. Still holding tightly to Bella's hand, she hopped, skipped, and jumped by her side, with Bella copying her antics as she led the way toward the shore.

Quil was like a paranoid, overprotective mother as he watched them go with worried eyes. "Maybe I should join them, just to make sure – "

"No!" Jacob grabbed his friend by the shoulder before he could move. His dark eyes dancing, his pride in the way that Bella had so smoothly handled the difficult situation without any interference from him, written all over his face. "Leave the girls to it, Quil. Look at how much fun they're having."

"But Bella – "Quil protested.

"Can handle it." Jacob cut in again. "Look at them, Quil."

Quil sighed, his expression strained as he followed the direction of Jacob's gaze. Bella had kicked off her boots and socks and was now bare foot in the sand. Claire had done the same, with Bella's help removing her own shoes and socks, she squealed in excitement as the cool sea water ran over her naked toes, retreating quickly, before daring to try all over again.

"They're having fun, Quil. Relax."

"I suppose." Quil murmured, some of the tension finally leaving his face.

"There's no suppose about it." Jacob clarified. "The girls have officially bonded. I think you might find your nannying services have become redundant for the day."

"Ha, very funny." Quil punched Jacob hard on the shoulder in retaliation, finally fully relaxing when he realized how much fun Claire was having. "I might have to take a few tips off Bella the next time I have to handle one of Claire's little tantrums."

"Uh huh." Jacob mumbled his agreement, not really listening, his eyes trained on Bella the whole time.

Edward sat with Alice in his room. His head was resting on her shoulder. His eyes closed in despair. He didn't need to look at her face, or to even read her mind to know.

"You can't see her anymore."

It wasn't a question, merely an observation.

Alice shook her head sadly. "No." She confessed. "It's done, Edward. She may not have consciously acknowledged it yet, but she's changed her mind."

A/N-thanks for reading!